


Images

by FanficMagicalGirl



Category: RWBY
Genre: Constructive Criticism Welcome, Gen, Memory Loss, Rebuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-21
Updated: 2019-04-21
Packaged: 2020-01-23 01:31:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18539551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FanficMagicalGirl/pseuds/FanficMagicalGirl
Summary: Moments from Penny's death, rebuilding, and reconnection as she adapts to her new-found life.





	Images

Penny was tumbling, pain stabbing and lights flaring around her. Her systems blared warning after warning as though there was anything she could do about it. She heard a sharp, angry crunch followed by a harsh ripping sound some deep, hidden, almost instinctual part of her recognized as the ripping of metal. She wanted to cry out, to scream, but none of her body seemed to be responding. She vaguely felt herself falling, as the world went dark around her. 

A series of images flickered through her mind, echoes of the life she had just barely begun to live: her father’s smiling face, Ruby hugging her when she revealed her true identity, the applauding crowds after her victories in the tournament. Then came a cascading wave of vague impressions, moments captured by the fading, failing fragments of her memory. She heard what was most likely a scream, then a pounding noise, followed by Ruby’s voice. The last thing Penny Polendina ever heard was the sound of her best friend taking hold of her sword and turning to the others. She began to speak, but by then, Penny was long, long gone.

┉

Her eyes flickered open to the sight of the sterile environment of a lab. Where was she? Who was she? A man looked down at her with a smile. “Hello, Penny.” She blinked, trying to process. 

“I’m Penny?”

“Yes. Your name is Penny Polendina, and you’re going to save the world.” She smiled and sat up. 

“I can’t wait!” Her red hair bobbed as she nodded.

“You’re going to be wonderful. But first, you will need training.” 

┉

A rigid man stood behind her. Her auditory sensors picked up a faint whirring sound from his arm, indicating a mechanical limb. “Are you ready, P.E.N.N.Y.?” She spun around.

“Yes! I’m combat ready!” He nodded and pushed a button on the consol. Behind her, a door began to roll open. She turned to face it, opening the hatch on her back and extending her swords out into a circular formation behind her. A large black creature charged toward her. Her database instantly recognized it as an ursa. She spun her swords first into the air, then down in front of her. With a thrust of her hand, they spiraled around to one side. The ursa slashed out at her. She spun and slid, sending the blades spinning through the creature’s neck. The head dropped to the floor, and she stood up. Her swords folded back into her body. She beamed and turned to look at the man. “How was that?” 

“Good work. Let’s keep going.” He tapped another button, and another door rumbled open. A king taijitu slid out. The black head snarled and spat. She extended her swords once again and shot them into the walls ahead of her. With a tug, the wire contracted, sending her soaring toward the wall. She extended another sword, which she launched into the ceiling. The serpent lashed up at her. Then she released three more, which she sent directly down through the eye and into the head. The beast thrashed as she flicked the weapons apart, shoving each of them down and out of the body. The black side collapsed and dissolved. 

The white one, having seen the death of the other, coiled into itself below her. She retracted the blades holding her suspended in the air and dropped to the floor. The king taijitu reared its head. She fired three open blades down the throat and out the back of the head. It slumped forward, the wires of her blades, which were now imbedded in the platform under the man, cutting through the armor on its head. It dissolved into mist. Penny saluted the man and smiled. He nodded. 

“I think that’s enough for now.” 

┉

The sound of footsteps shocked her out of her thoughts. She sat bolt upright and shoved the notebook under her desk. Her door slid open, and General Ironwood stepped into the room, followed by her father. “Hello, P.E.N.N.Y.” She looked at him.

“Hello, general.”

Her father beamed. “Today’s the day, Penny! It’s time for you to go help save the world.” She stood up.

“Really, father?”

It was the general who responded. “Of course. You leave today.” 

┉

The airship buzzed as they soared through the air, leaving the small lab for the city of Altas. Penny fidgeted with the hemline of her dress and ran her hands through her curls as she though back to her briefing. She was going to meet a pro-huntsman and a team of students who needed her help. Her systems buzzed into a low-power mode, leaving her mind to wander as her body shut down. What would her mission be like? Would the students be around her “age”? Would they like her? Could they be friends? Penny had never had a friend before. Her fingers clenched. Would she succeed? Could she really save the world? Was she ready, so soon?

“We’ve arrived, Miss Polendina.” She got to her feet, brushing herself off and adjusting her bow. The pilot guided the plane down to the ground and opened the hatch.

“Thank you!” She walked down the ramp. A woman with white hair was waiting for her.

“Hello, P.E.N.N.Y. My name is Winter Schnee. I will be overseeing your transition into your new mission.”

She saluted her. “Salutations, Ms. Schnee!” The woman nodded and led her into the building.

“Are you ready? I have been informed that this is your first mission. General Ironwood seems to have full faith in you, however, so I can only assume that you are fully prepared.” Penny smiled.

“Not to worry! I’m combat ready!” She nodded and stopped walking as they reached a door. 

“Your team for this mission is waiting in here.” Penny put her hand on the doorknob. “And, P.E.N.N.Y? Good luck.” Ms. Schnee turned and left. Carefully, she slid the door open and stepped into the room. The students turned to face her. They all went silent. A girl in a red cape stepped forward.

“Penny?”

┉

Ruby Rose’s fingers drummed on the table as she spoke. “You were destroyed! How are you here?” Penny tilted her eyes and accessed her memory banks. There was nothing missing, no sign of deletion or alteration, but she also lacked any record of being destroyed. She had come into existence when her father built him. This was her first time ever leaving the lab.

“Oh, silly Ruby! I was never destroyed!” Ruby looked around. 

“No, you were killed at Beacon.” The others looked at her.

“Pyrrha accidentally killed you. It happened. We were all there.” That boy Jaune winced. ‘Pyrrha… she… she killed you and she was so horrified and now she’s gone, but you’re here.”

Penny frowned. “Pyrrha… Nikos? I never met Miss Nikos. I wish I had. I would have loved the opportunity to fight her at some point.” Oscar’s eyes flickered green, and he sat upright. She tilted her head, confused. Her system whirred as she tried to comprehend what was happening. Was he an artificial being as well?

“Miss Polendina, it seems that you were rebuilt after the Vytal Festival without any record of anything that had happened.”

“You mean you don’t remember anything? You don’t remember any of us? You don’t remember me?”

“I’m very sorry, Ruby, but I do not.” 

┉

Her swords slashed through the beowulf’s neck, sending the head falling to the ground with a thump. It disappeared as she spun around to face another. Her blades spun rapidly and fluidly, cutting at limbs and heads, careful not to slice or entangle the others around her. She shot two blades back into the trees behind her and let them pull her back as another Beowulf slashed toward her. Suddenly, she was yanked backward and sent careening toward the ground. She looked back; an ursa had pulled down the strings. She smashed into the snow. Her sensors beeped and whirred angrily as the weapons retracted. The ursa lunged toward her, extended claws poised directly for her stomach.

Somewhere in the background, she heard Ruby scream. A blinding flash of light tore through the air. Was this what dying looked like? She couldn’t remember. The light subsided to reveal a stone ursa with long, sharp claws inches away from her chest. The statue’s head exploded as a series of bullets ripped through it. Penny slid out from under it to find Ruby stand above her, scythe aimed at where the creature’s head had once been. Around the clearing, the others were efficiently disassembling grimm statues. She turned to Ruby.

Ruby smiled, silver eyes gleaming in the fading daylight. “I just got you back. I can’t afford to lose you and have to start all over again. Penny nodded. She most certainly did not want to lose her first, greatest, best friend. Her fingers naturally, almost habitually, as if she’d done it a thousand times when she had no memory of ever doing it before, wove their way in between Ruby’s and she beamed. 

“Thank you, Ruby,”


End file.
